Where those associated with Western films from around the world are laid to rest.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

RIP Phil Austin

Firesign Theatre Member Phil Austin Dies at 74

Variety

By Cynthia Littleton

June 20, 2015

Phil Austin, a co-founder of the influential Firesign
Theatre comedy troupe, died Thursday of complications from cancer at his home
on Fox Island in Washington state. He was 74.

Austin was dubbed the “official lead guitarist” for the
outfit known for its out-there radio broadcasts and albums from the late 1960s
and early ’70s. The group’s most popular albums include “How Can You Be Two
Places at Once When You’re Not Anywhere At All” (with its famous cover image of
Groucho Marx and John Lennon), “I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus” and “Don’t
Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers.”

Austin was known for playing the group’s enduring
character Nick Danger, a spoof of hard-boiled fictional detectives a la Sam
Spade and Philip Marlowe. Nick Danger often stated his name backwards — “Regnad
Kcin” — as if he were reading it off the glass pane of his office door from
behind his desk.

Austin’s death was confirmed on the Firesign Theatre’s website:

“Nick Danger has left the office.

Our dear friend and Firesign Theatre partner for over 50
years succumbed to various forms of cancer early this morning at his home on
Fox Island, Washington, with his wife Oona and their six beloved dogs at his side.
It is a tremendous and unexpected loss, and we will miss him greatly; but in
keeping with his wishes, there will be no public memorial.

Rest in Peace, Regnad Kcin.”

Born in Denver in 1941, Austin grew up in Fresno, Calif.
He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine (reportedly to get as far away
from Fresno as possible), and also at Cal State Fresno and UCLA but never
graduated. By the mid-1960s he was working as an apprentice at Los Angeles’
Center Theater Group and also as a director of drama and literature for public
radio station KPFK.

At KPFK Austin met like-minded writers and performers
Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Phil Proctor and soon the Firesign Theatre was
born. Bergman died in 2012.

In 1974 Austin released a solo comedy album, “Roller
Maidens From Outer Space.”

In later years, Austin did voice-over work for TV
commercials and worked as a development exec for Lorimar Telepictures. He also
wrote screenplays and published a book of short stories, “Tales of the Old
Detective and Other Big Fat Lies,” in 1995.

About Me

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1946 I have a BA degree in American History from Cal St. Northridge. I've been researching the American West and western films since the early 1980s and visiting filming sites in Spain and the U.S.A. Elected a member of the Spaghetti Western Hall of Fame 2010.